April is almost over...

I can't believe how fast this year is flying by!

Some more layout sharing...



My first ever 'heritage style' layout, for Melanie's challenge at the Scrap Pile cybercrop last week. I don't usually "do" pink and lacy, but I had fun with this and I even won a prize... yay!
(This is the same photo I digi-scrapped last month... the only photo I have found of my christening. About time I did some baby photos for my poor, neglected Book of Me!)

Sunday cropping

I had the best time cropping with the CISters. As always it was fantastic catching up with Liz, Jolene, Vicki, Linda, and Leone. And it was lovely to finally meet the fandabbydosey Krissy face to face :) We had a fabulous time chatting and scrapping, drinking coffee, eating cake and snacks, laughing and just relaxing. Time spent with these ladies truly inspires me to get into the zone and just create.

I did five layouts today!!

This one incorporates the second of the CIS April Stylish Computer Tricks, typography technique. I also added some brushes and had a bit of fun with my embellishments:




This one is based on a sketch by Liz for the Scrap Boutique cybercrop:(I also used my new pen, which was a RAK from Krissy ~ thank you xx)




The other three layouts are for some secret squirrel projects and I will post them when the time is right.

Layout share

Just a few layouts I've done this month...

I submitted this one for a cybercrop challenge over at Scrap with V, and I used the Photoshop doodle brush technique from the April Computer Tricks challenge at Crafting in Style:



And this is one I did for a mini-weekend challenge at Scrap Pile. It had to be yellow and black. I have now officially exhausted my supply of yellow cardstock (although I am a little puzzled as to how I came to have these pieces in my stash to start with!! Yellow is not a colour I use very often.)



Thanks Mel for the challenge.

Find Joy

I had the best time time tonight, teaching a class at Crafting in Style.

This is the layout:



I loved playing with the Daisy Bucket papers and lovely mix of embellishments, and I loved the fun of the online class environment.

Blog-cropping

I've had a productive weekend, catching up on scrapping some more of last year's photos. These are some of the layouts I've created for the Sisterhood of Scrap anniversary crop so far:

~ Carla's ROOK challenge:
The little bird is a Catslife Press stamp, super cute!!





~ Sara's PAINTBALL challenge:
I painted the background with watered down acrylic paint. Hmm.. didn't photograph too well but it is a very pretty pale blue and you can see how I made it too wet and it buckled the cardstock...





~ Deanne's TABOO challenge:





~ Jean's skipping games challenge:
Three photos, fibres (the burgundy machine thread and the brown loop trim), song lyrics (from "Hit me with your best shot" by Pat Benatar - can you tell I love 80's music??)

Oh Look!

This is my entry for the April White with 1 challenge:



I've never used playing cards on my layouts before, so this was a really fun challenge.

Take a leaf...

...out of my book!! That's the theme for the April cybercrop over at Crafting in Sytle. After a slight hiccup with the start (*%#~expletive*%#~ hackers) we are are in crop mode now!

Challenge 1 - Scraplift a layout by Tatum:

This is my take:




Challenge 2 - Ally's challenge to use trees or leaves, diamonds, and hand-made journalling spot:




Challenge 3 - Based on a sketch by me, and using autumn colours:

Digital credits: paper by Katie Pertiet, ribbon by Valerie Randall, leaf brush by ?? can't find the designer, sorry.

"Come Play with Us!"

On April 6th-12th, Sisterhood of Scrap is celebrating their first anniversary with a week-long "Come Play with Us" blog-crop. There are sponsored prizes and everyone is welcome to participate by completing the challenges. Individual daily challenges will be posted on Sister blogs.

Today it's my turn:

When we were little, my brother and I used to love playing Monopoly. We didn't have a Monopoly set at home, but my grandparents had one. Whenever we went to their house, guess what got pulled out of the cupboard first!

My challenge is inspired by the game of Monopoly - only ONE.

>> Create a layout that is monochromatic - only one colour.
>> Use only one patterned paper.
>> Use only one word in your title.
>> Use only one photograph.

You can use any number of additional embellishments as long as you stick to all four of the above criteria. Your layout can be any theme you like.

Here is my layout:




Have fun! When you have completed your layout, post your link in the comments to this thread - this is where the judges will be checking out the entries. Deadline for this challenge is 18th April - that's one week from today.

Check out some of the challenges from other Sisters:

* Sara is playing Paint Ball
* Susan is playing Scrabble
* Emily is doing puzzles
* Pearl is playing with bingo cards
* Lois is playing hopscotch
* Deanne is playing Taboo
* Jean is playing skipping games
* Lisa is playing Connect 4
* Carla is playing Rook
* Carla is playing Tag too!
* Deanne is playing Follow the Leader
* Beverley is playing Pass the Parcel

Thank you Kerry!

The very talented Kerry Murray sent me the most beautiful RAK this week... some silk flowers, chip alphas and, best of all, this gorgeous layout:



Thank you Kerry! I love it. I've filled in the journalling spots with some input the from the young lady herself.

She was so excited that someone else she's never met took the time to create something so special.

I can't wait to meet up with you again at the retreat and see more of your creations in real life.

Thank you Ally

... for creating this gorgeous digi layout for me!



For Challenge 12 of the Amazing Digi Scrap Race, we had to collaborate to create a layout about a great accomplishment - I provided the photograph and journalling, and Ally created the layout. I love it!! Thank you, thank you, thank you xxx

Challenge 11 criteria was to use wings, and is my layout:



I used a lovely 'wings' brush from GBB and had fun trying to make them look real. All other digital credits are detailed in my NDISB gallery.


And the 'bonus challenge' was to scrap about something I do everyday:

Stars in their eyes

What a cool theme for a cybercrop! I did a couple of the challenges over at the Scrap Pile cybercrop this week.

Looking through my older photographs to find an 'unscrapped' close-up of someone's eyes, I found this one from 2005, which worked perfectly for Kylie's challenge:



And this is my layout for Melanie's challenge :

This and that

Deborah's challenge over at Scrap Pile fit in perfectly with my ongoing effort to use up my stash of scraps... I chose a double page to get through my older stash of Basic Grey even faster, and I delved into my little ziplock colour bags to do the borders:



And while I was doing that one (feeling in the mood for green and brown) I scrapped a few more photos from our Christmas holidays just for fun:

Revisiting orange

The 123 Challenge blog this month has orange, black and white as part of the criteria... how could I not have a go??



And over at Scrap with V, the monthly challenge is to create a layout using autumn colours:



Still loving orange!

50? 51!

O-M-G... it was my turn to do the 'roadblock' challenge for ADSR this week. And it was another doozy of a challenge too.

Challenge 10 - use at least fifty different elements from at least ten different designers!! I nearly died when I saw the challenge, but I did it. I actually did 51, just in case I mis-counted, from 13 different designers. This is my layout:



All the credits are listed over in the NDISB gallery; too many to list here. My favourite part is the 'paper' though... from 'Inspired' by Kate Pertiet over at Designer Digitals. And the yummy flowers are from Kikinou's 'Esperanza' kit at Colorscraps.



Challenge 9 - complete a layout in 'altered art' style. What does that mean exactly?? It's not really my thing, so it was definitely a challenge:



Mostly used brushes with this one, including my favourite text brush from spyglass.net

Water Babe

My final class kit is now available over at Scrap with V.  The kit is suitable for beginners and contains enough product to create both layouts, with full step-by-step instructions:





** The gorgeous little girl is not my daughter... she is the 4yr old daughter of my friend, who kindly allowed me to scrap her photograph. Thank you xx

Just a little bit

...of scrapping over the long weekend. No holidays for me, so scrapping has been an add-a-bit-more-in-between-other-jobs affair this week.

This is a layout I did for Krissy's challenge over at Crafting in Style - in honour of St Patrick's Day on 17th March, scrapping with green



And just another one for J's 8x8 Seaworld album:

Into the deep end

Last month when I decided to help Ally out and join her on the Amazing Digital Scrap Race, I thought it would be a great way to challenge myself and learn a bit more about digi-scrapping along the way.

This week I got well and truly thrown in the deep end with Challenge 7, which stretched my capabilities so-o-o-o-o much. The criteria was really tricky, and at one stage I lost count of how many layers I was working with and I was going cross-eyed trying to fit in all of the required elements. But after counting and double-counting, and checking it all off, I'm sure I've got it all covered with this layout:



My chosen designer was Shabby Princess, and all elements are from her freebie kits online.


Challenge 8 was much more relaxing! The criteria included black-and-white holiday photographs, a one-word title, and using song lyrics. I chose used lyrics from U2: Van Dieman's Land.

March 'Computer Tricks'

I'm still enjoying the Photoshop lessons at Crafting in Style. There's one lesson and one challenge each fortnight, and each time I've been learning something new!

March Lesson 1: Emphasise a focal point

I found this a bit tricky at first until I realised I missed one tiny detail... which turned out to be the key to making it actually work!! I love the effect and I think I will be playing around with it a lot more.




March Lesson 2: Focal point with colour

Along the same lines as the other technique, but a little bit different, and I actually found this a little bit easier too.

Sisterhood of Scrap

I'm happy about being selected as a 'Sister of the Week' over at the Sisterhood of Scrap blog. I even get to wear this cute blinkie.


Monday's challenge was to create a layout with a question mark, and at least two types of ribbon:



There's a different focus each day - challenge Monday, teaching Tuesday, web Wednesday, text Thursday, 'foto' Friday, sketch Saturday, sister Sunday ~ lots of fun ideas contributed by scrappers of different styles and experience levels.

Still in the race

Week 3 of the Amazing Digi Scrapbooking Race is over, and we made it through to Week 4.

Challenge 5 was a bit different; we had to create a layout which incorporated an interview with an inanimate object. This was my entry:



Challenge 6 was a 'roadblock' challenge, meaning only one team member could enter. So Ally did the honours this time - and she had to scrap-spin one of my digital layouts - spin it around and have the theme the total opposite of my original. Tricky, especially considering I haven't done many digitals and she didn't have a wide range to choose from. Thanks Ally :)